ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Depositional Effects of 2004 Tsunami
and Hypothetical Paleotsunami Near Thap Lamu
Navy Base in Phang Nga Province, Thailand
S. Yawsangratt1,2, W. Szczuciński1, N. Chaimanee3, R. Jagodziński1,
S. Lorenc1, S. Chatprasert2, D. Saisuttichai2, T. Tepsuwan2
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1Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Maków Polnych 16, 61-606 Poznań, Poland
2Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
3CCOP, Bangkok, Thailand
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2009;18(1):17-23
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
On December 26th, 2004, a tsunami hit the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand, leaving bimodal tsunami
deposits in the coastal zone. Granite boulders and sandy tsunami deposits were investigated near Thap Lamu
Navy Base in Phang Nga Province, Thailand. Boulders (< 2.5m3) were mostly scattered close to a tidal inlet
on a flat plain elevated 1-2m above the high tide water level, reaching up to 140m inland. Most boulders had
oyster shell remnants over their surface, which suggests that they were dragged from the nearby shore. The
tsunami also brought a sheet of medium to coarse grained sand, with thickness ranging from a few mm up to
37cm. The distribution of deposits was mainly controlled by the existing topography. Another group of granite
boulders was found between 150 and 300m from the coastline, at elevations of 2m and more. Their size
reached 5.5m3. This second group of boulders may have been transported by an ancient tsunami.